Death and life are in the power of the tongue! Prov. 18:21(image courtesy of adsneeze.com)

NOTE: Domestic abuse articles written by me are usually written from the female perspective since I am a woman and my audience is largely women. However, abuse is not gender specific. Most of what I write can be understood to apply to either gender.

If you are reading this, there is some reason you are here. It might just be curiosity, because you found this site accidentally or a friend sent you a link. You may even be antagonistic.

But I hope it is because you are seeking answers to questions in your life.

However, there is a hidden lock in the door to the answers. Many people do not ever find the answers they seek because they stumble over this one point.

We humans are constantly seeking knowledge. We want to figure it out; we want to know – whatever “it” is. Satan surely knew just how to tempt Eve!

Think about how Satan appealed to Eve. He said (the Danni paraphrase here), “Hey, Eve, did God really tell you guys you couldn’t eat the fruit from that tree over there? Are you sure? Well, that’s strange. Because that tree is a great one. I know you want to be like God, right? I mean who wouldn’t! And if you eat that fruit you will be like God. You’ll know what is good and evil like He does, so you won’t even have to ask Him – you’ll know! That way you’ll know just how to please Him. Wouldn’t that be great?!”

What Eve didn’t know, because Satan was deceiving her, and what Satan really meant, was that if Adam and Eve ate from that tree they would commit the same sin he had committed.

Lucifer said, “I will be like God.” This sin of self-idolatry is what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven. After eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve would believe they had the knowledge to determine for themselves what was good and evil – like God; God’s knowledge.

Knowledge gives us information. But in our humanness, and in our heredity as children of Adam, we can also end up using it to “define” God, and to determine for ourselves what we believe is good and evil – thinking we are in agreement with God.

In our quest to figure it all out, we mistakenly think we can figure God out – or at least mostly. In the process, we try to fit Him into “boxes” of our human-sized understanding. The mind of man is incapable of comprehending God. And still we think we can do it.

This inherently limits what God can do in our lives because we have just told Him – “these are Your boundaries!” And God is a gentleman – He won’t force Himself past our boundaries.

The secret key to opening the door to answers is being willing to let God overthrow any of our belief paradigms. Is God big enough to be trusted with our very favorite, strongest theology? If He wants to throw that one out and show us it is completely bogus will we let Him? If He wants to reveal some catastrophically nasty truth about our own heart, would we be willing to hear it?

This actually sounds easier than it is. I have known comparatively few people who were willing to accept this challenge. I’ve seen many people turn and walk away from it because the risk was too great. They were so certain that their knowledge was right, their theology was unassailable, their pet “whatever” was correct – they were unwilling to even let God open the door to inspect the merchandise.

The truth is, if we hold any of our paradigms out of God’s reach – those paradigms are idolatrous to us. Even if they were true and right – they are no longer righteous if they have taken first place over God Himself!

God can be trusted. If our theology is correct – He will confirm and affirm that. It will not change and will only be strengthened. But if our beliefs are wrong – why do we want to cling to a rotting corpse?

So the challenge is this – are you willing to let God open the door to the answers? Can God topple any belief system, theology, or favorite love of knowledge you have in order to teach you the truth that will set you free?

If you are human, one thing is certain; you have beliefs that are in error. We all do because the mind of man cannot comprehend the mind of God. So this is a work that is never done. The day we stop letting God turn our beliefs upside down is the day we stop growing and become stunted. The Word says we will know perfectly when we are perfected in heaven. We’re not there yet, so our knowledge will always be imperfect until then.

But it can be a scary thing to dare to lay it all on the line – especially if you hold any “position” in the church or have years of Christianity under your belt (and perhaps don’t realize you have some pride in your maturity). Because God can and will do some serious tumbling.

The fruit of this divine upset is incredibly powerful, however. With every overthrow, God brings the fruit of healing to, and release of power in, some area.

So, that is the price and the reward. How much do you want to find God’s healing for and power in your life?